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Updated Friday, January 6, 2012 0:19 am TWN, The China Post news staff



	Tsannkuen Co. (燦坤) is accused of having leaked out customer information, which had resulted in its members receiving fraud phone calls and consequentially losing great sums of money, according to the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), yesterday. (CNA) Enlarge Photo

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Tsannkuen leaked customers' data: CPC

Renowned Taiwanese electronics manufacturer and distributor Tsannkuen Co. (燦坤實業) was suspected by consumer protection commissioners to have leaked customers' information, yesterday, as the Taipei City Government Law and Regulation Commission (LRC, 法規會) had recently received multiple reports on fraud phone calls following purchases made at the shopping chain, with one individual losing over NT$100,000.

According to Chann Wen-chuan (張文川), unit leader of the National Police Agency (NPA), consumers reported to have received customer service phone calls two weeks following their purchases at Tsannkuen Co.

The caller identified himself as a Tsannkuen staff, and apologized for having mistakenly setup the customers' payments as separate installments. In order to stop the system from withdrawing, monthly, the full amount of the product purchased, customers should “un-swipe” their cards at ATM machines.

One customer hastily followed the “un-swiping directions” given over the phone multiple times, and when he had come to his senses, the NT$100,000 in his account had all been transferred elsewhere and already withdrawn.

Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元), chairman of the LRC, pointed out that all six customers who reported on the fraud call asserted that whoever was on the other end had detailed information on the items they had purchased, the exact amount and date when they had swiped, and precise credit card information.

It is reasonable to suspect that the customers' information had been leaked by the shopping chain, he concluded.

Regarding the doubts cast on the company, Deputy Manager of the Tsannkuen Product Department Chang Yue-lung (張岳龍) strongly stood his ground, declaring that the company would not reveal customers' information, and has notified the police to solve the case. It would also further enhance management of the company and “do all that could be done,” quoting Chang.

Internet Fraud More Prevalent

According to statistics provided by the NPA, while the overall number of fraud cases has been decreasing since 2009-dropping from 8,365 cases to 2010's 5,466, and to 4,647 incidents in 2011, the percentage composition of the format of frauds has tipped toward more Internet fraud than phone fraud for the first time, in 2011.

Also ubiquitous is online identity theft cases over instant messaging system MSN. Thefts would request MSN friends to purchase cheap game credits and profit through selling them off. There are on average 130 similar cases reported per month throughout Taiwan, and the circulating swindled money accumulates to over NT$1 million, Chann pointed out.

Tsannkuen's case could have resulted from illegal leakage by its employees, in which case the company should take up the responsibility. The incident could also have been a straightforward outsider attack-hacking of information, which the company should also have managed to prevent via setting functional firewalls.

If the fault were laid on the company, then it would need to compensate all customer losses. The Taipei City Government had requested Tsannkuen to thoroughly investigate the case, and to come up with compensation proposals for the customers, Yeh said.

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